Monday, November 15, 2010

BIG news week!

So, I got a bunch of email today in my work inbox. Nothing newsworthy about this-we all get email at work all day, everyday, right? A lot of it is crap, some might be mid level stuff, some might actually be important. Well, as I was off and at home, I figured I would check the work email quickly at home before heading out to shop with the wifey. I had sent some important training info and PowerPoints via email on my last day at work, and was just looking for responses from the bosses, and what would be coming up later this month as a result.
Wait, one email was from an unfamiliar address. Hmmm, wait. That address looks a bit like one I had sent an email to in the middle of last month. It is flagged "high importance". What the heck...wait a minute. GULP! I remember exactly what this is about,  I swallow hard, my stomach begins to twist and do flip-flops, a definite case of the butterflies! All from an email?! Do I dare open it?? My mind races, my pulse quickens and my blood pressure-well, I think my blood pressure stayed about the same. I think of everything this one email could (or could not) affect in my life, both personally and professionally. One email can do that?

Yep. What's it all about? Well, sometimes the god(s) we pray to, or the funny little ritualistic behaviors we tend to do (maybe a kind of obsessive/compulsive kind of thing, or salt over your shoulder, or whatever), these things seem funny, or almost ridiculous when you think back on why you do such things. At least, to me it can be funny. I can be amused, and sometimes laugh at myself.

And then sometimes, you realize that all the stars in the heavens above, all those little twists of lady luck and lust simply MUST line up, and she winks at you. And you get that one wish, that one miracle.

You have to understand something; I am very much a realist. In both my personal and professional life. I do not expect to pray, or do some funny "good luck" ritual, and expect a miracle from this. I don't pray and expect I will run a sub 7 minute mile. I do not think I will win the lottery by playing some obscure set of #s intertwined in my life, with birthdays, lock combinations, addresses.

Do miracles happen? Yeah, I am almost certain they do in this world. But I also believe this-in order to run a 7 minute mile, I need to train my ass off and work hard, dedicate myself. To win the lottery, well, I don't know what to do, I can never seem to win it.

Sorry, back to the email. What is it all about? What what what what what what what???
What already?
Sorry, you're going to have to wait until Wednesday, when it will be "official", even if only in my mind.

And no, I did not win the lottery. Well, in a odd sort of way I guess I did, but it's not the lottery you are thinking of. And, it really wasn't a lottery, even though I entered a "lottery". Awww, its kind of complicated.

Check back Wed. night. I will post it on up.

Anyways, today was a pretty good day. I ran a 5 miler at a good pace, and felt great. I could have gone on running and running, one of those days when I didn't want to stop. And since I was feeling ambitious, I did 3 sets of 20 crunches right afterwards, with an 8 lb medicine ball in hand. Yeah, the abs are feeling it. Then shopping and a light lunch with my wife-we got sub sandwiches from Lee's Deli, a little ma and pa locally owned one-of-a-kind place that has been around for as long as I can remember. Good stuff!! And we did shop-we picked out a chest freezer for the basement, bought some odds and ends, picked up the little turkey's Daisy uniform for her scouting ceremony tomorrow afternoon.

Here is today's run, not a super fast pace, but a great feeling was had:
What a great run!
But overall, I've been feeling pretty darn good. I did not have the "post race season blues, eat everything in sight", like I did the past two years. I'm thinking change might be just what I need.

I've been hitting the weight room at work in the past few weeks. Lifting, core work and trying to incorporate some Crossfit exercises-man, these are some hard ass workouts! For one workout, I did 3-sets of bench press on the olympic, dumbell curls and tri extensions, kettle bell clean and jerks, decline sit-ups, and heavy medicine ball toss to the wall (up high, over the head), followed by a sub 8 min. split 1 mile treadmill blast. My HR did not go below 154 during exercise time, and rest sessions were short. Good and hard, and quick-done in 40 minutes. Most of the Crossfit is really interval based training, and not a thing to take lightly, or if you're just getting a start to working out. Check out the Crossfit site, there are tons of workouts, complete with video demos, all for free!

I'm going to keep up with the weights/Crossfit this winter, making it my interval training days, but still doing longer, slower distance workouts on the TT bike and outdoor runs. I need to find a new pool, so I can work in the swim sessions, right after the first of the year. I hope it all will pay off in spades for the next triathlon race season. As matter of fact, it had better pay off in a royal flush type thing.

Like I said, you'll see what I mean and why I'm acting a bit weird. Sorry to leave ya hanging, but check back Wed night. I'm going to need more crossfit...and some more cowbell too.


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